


Countdown From Zero

by benvoliotheorphan



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Soulmate-Identifying Timers, idk man i wrote this at like 1am after a stressful week of work, kind of sad, kind of silly, not much thought was put into it lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-08-16 04:14:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20192086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/benvoliotheorphan/pseuds/benvoliotheorphan
Summary: The Doctor and Jack are surprised to find that Rose has a soulmate timer - and it’s already reached zero.





	Countdown From Zero

**Author's Note:**

> man... the last time i posted a doctor who fic, i was still in high school. and here i am, back at it again a decade later.
> 
> ho boy
> 
> this fic takes place sometime vaguely after boom town. as stated before, it’s been literally years since i’ve written anything for doctor who, so this may or may not be ooc.

“You’ve got a soulmate timer?” the Doctor asked incredulously one morning (well, relatively speaking - Rose and Jack just got up, so it was basically morning), eyebrows raised high as he looked down at her arm. Jack’s head jerked up from his bowl of cereal in interest, eyes going wide as a large, almost disbelieving smile pulled across his face.

Rose blinked a few times, her tired mind struggling to process his words. She slowly glanced between the two men’s faces, both of their gazes teeming with interest (though Jack’s held far more delight than the Doctor’s), before looking down at her right hand. It was reaching out for the bottle of syrup situated at the center of the table so she could pour some on her banana pancakes, the position perfect for allowing the Doctor, seated to her left, to see the inside of her wrist and the small timer that was implanted a little further up her arm.

Rose sighed and quickly jerked the syrup towards herself. “Yeah, I do,” she answered with a clipped tone, focus now entirely on her breakfast. She ignored the way Jack, who had been seated across from her, scooted his chair over so he was right next to the Doctor to get a better view. “Surprised you haven’t noticed sooner. Had it for a while now.”

“In our defense,” Jack began, straining his head over into the Doctor’s personal space, much to the other man’s chagrin, as he juvenilely continued his attempt to catch sight of her timer, “you usually keep it covered with something.” His eyes widened briefly before he collapsed back into his chair, earning a sigh of relief from the Doctor. “Actually, all those bandannas and ribbons now make sense. Why d’ya keep it hidden, Rosie?”

“It’s already at zero,” the Doctor answered before Rose could say anything. Rose let out a low groan at Jack’s loud and exaggerate gasp and gave up her attempts at ignoring the matter. She was fortunate enough to have avoided the subject for as long as she had, honestly. She looked over to her friends, Jack once again sporting a large grin as his eyes danced with curiosity, while the Doctor had his brow furrowed, a deep frown marring his features. “You've met your soulmate?”

“Is it Mickey boy?” Jack asked as he reached over to grab his bowl of cereal, having left it back in his previous spot and now more than content to sit with his hip glued to the Doctor. “I know you two aren’t dating anymore, but soulmates aren’t without their rough patches.”

Rose bit the inside of her cheek and sank back into her chair, fingers of her left hand idly tracing the timer on her right arm. She gave herself a tick or two to gather her thoughts before answering. “No, s’not Mickey. And yeah, I guess I met him.” She shrugged, eyes drifting up towards the ceiling. “Don’t really know who he is, though.”

A soft “Oh,” from the Doctor, a low “Ah,” from Jack, and a small hum from the TARDIS were all the responses she received from her revelation. She kept her eyes to the ceiling and said, “Yeah,” it a quiet and dull voice. A long stretch of silence followed.

“Drunk when it happened, huh?” Jack suddenly said, shattering the quiet. Rose jerked her attention back towards him just in time to see the end of the Doctor’s eye-roll as Jack nodded sagely at her. “Definitely been there.”

The Doctor huffed. “You don’t have a soulmate timer,” he pointed out, only to be instantly dismissed by a wave of Jack’s hand.

“No,” Jack conceded easily, “but they’ve got plenty of other, less permanent, methods for tracking soulmates in my time.”

“Lucky,” Rose grumbled, darting her leg out to kick Jack under the table. He yelped and pouted at her, while the Doctor gave an amused huff and tossed a light grin her way. She ignored the way her heart stuttered at the sight - now was not the time to let her little crush become a distraction, no matter how desperate she was for one. “And... you aren’t too far off the mark, Jack.”

Instantly, the pout was gone from Jack’s face, replaced with a triumphant grin. “Knew it.”

“I was pissed when I got it installed,” she quickly clarified before he could let the gloating go to his head. “It wasn’t too long after Jimmy Stone.” _That_ caused both men to sober up quickly, expressions becoming quite grim at the mention of her ex. “Friends took me out, wanted to help me take my mind off everything. Woke up the next day and...” She tossed the others a painfully forced smile as she held up her right arm, facing her timer towards them. “Always regretted it, honestly.”

“They aren’t cheap,” the Doctor said with a knowing nod, his eyes glued on the implant. “Even more expensive to remove.” He tore his gaze away to meet her eyes. “I can remove it, you know. If you want.”

Rose nodded and gave him a wide grin, one that felt far more natural and met her eyes, with relief seeping into her shoulders as she slumped back into her chair. “I’d appreciate that, yeah.”

“So, you never kept an eye on the countdown?” Jack asked as he leaned forward to get a bite of his cereal. “Didn’t want it, so didn’t pay attention, and now you got no clue who you were talkin’ to when it hit zero.”

“Basically!” Rose confirmed as she turned back to her own breakfast; her stomach was rumbling its demands for her to get back to the original task at hand. “Well, I kept something of an eye on it," she amended after a moment, "but usually jus’ ignored it.” She then finally took a bite of her banana pancakes, and her eyes slipped shut with the pleasure of getting to eat at long last.

When she opened them, she did not miss the somewhat proud grin the Doctor wore. She tossed him her tongue-touch smile in response. Jack, still tucked snuggly at the Doctor’s side, snorted at the exchange.

“Do you have even a vague idea when it happened?” Jack asked in lieu of a teasing comment.

“January first, 2005,” Rose answered without missing a beat. “Wasn’t too long after midnight. New Years Day.”

This earned her twin looks of surprise from her friends. “So much for not keeping track of it,” the Doctor said, voice dry despite his expression.

Rose shrugged. “Happened to catch a glimpse of it earlier in the night before I met him.” She let out a low sigh as her eyes drifted to a spot between the Doctor’s and Jack’s heads, her mind wandering back to that snowy night. “But then Mum’s ride bailed and we had to walk all the way back home. I’d already forgotten it again when some drunk bloke asked me for the date.”

“So _he_ was the drunk one!” Jack gleefully cried, making Rose jump and the Doctor to elbow him. “I knew someone had to be drunk.”

Rose huffed. “Yeah, yeah, already said you were right!” She gave him a teasing grin before turning back to her food, ready for the conversation to end. “It wasn’t until I was getting ready for bed that I noticed it’d hit zero, and he was long gone by then.”

“Well, sucks for him,” Jack said. “You’re probably the best soulmate the guy could ask for. Right, Doc?”

Rose glanced up from her food to see the Doctor toss Jack a glare for the nickname, making her smile lightly. The Doctor then turned to her, glare giving way for an affectionate grin, his ice-blue eyes soft and caring. “Yeah,” he agreed, voice deceptively light, “it’s a real shame to miss out on having Rose Tyler for a soulmate.” Rose’s smile grew wider.

“You could probably do better than him, anyway,” Jack quipped before shoveling a large spoonful of soggy cereal into his mouth.

The Doctor nodded. “Definitely.”

**Author's Note:**

> the tenth doctor a few years later, right before regenerating: Fuck


End file.
